To the Strongest
by YushiNat
Summary: Two years ago, she was the little girl who met the wolf in the woods. Two years later, she is the woman whose road luckily crosses with the king. King Arthur Little Red Riding Hood AU. First story in my Project Fairy Tale. Please review.
_Hello there folks. Twisted here… I've been planning this for quite some time now. See, I was thinking, what if I make a series of fanfic with the theme 'fairy tale'? Yes people. LOL. Here it is now- the first of the series._

 _So this is a LeviMika fairy tale AUish fanfic… the idea is_ _ **King Arthur mixed with Little Red Riding Hood**_ _. I dunno if this is good enough, but yeah. Anyway, this was written in pure children fairy tale-ish manner so you have to bear with the 'Once Upon A Times'_

 _I will not keep you waiting anymore._

 _Here it is… TO THE STRONGEST!_

* * *

 **TO THE STRONGEST**

 _A LeviMika fairy tale fanfiction_

 _(The Little Red Riding Hood)_

* * *

 **#1: The Exposition to a Tale**

Rod Reiss is the last Reiss king.

He has a lot of children, but he will leave no successor. This does not alarm the kingdom though… for they deem Rod Reiss as weak, unlike his brother, the late Uri Reiss (who is childless as well as wifeless).

His existence's only purpose is to anchor the stability of the kingdom. Yes. A king is someone who makes decisions for his subjects, but Rod does not do that. He relinquished that function to his council long since.

He is but a figure head.

Years pass and he starts to waste away from disease. As the final moment of his life approaches, he makes arrangements to fulfil Uri's last wish.

" _Out there exists a child worthy of the crown- perhaps more than the rest of our so-called_ _ **family**_ _. I want you to find him- no. call for him. Set up an announcement to the ends of the kingdom; 'The throne awaits for you. But you can only claim it if you are the strongest.'…"_

And so, the whole kingdom erupts into a great search. Men, young men and boys far and wide travel in response to the call. But how will they determine the strongest?

Hanji Zoe, a wise woman who has served the kingdom for the past one hundred and fifty years comes up with a clever plan.

She gathers a council of five and there she tells them, "Forge a sword- from the comet which fell on the night of the first full moon that the world's oceans tasted. Take it to the ten true kings of the ten kinds who rule the lands, seas, air and fire… have them bless it. By then, the sword will be far too heavy for unworthy men to lift. But you have to set it up in front of the Cathedral in Sina. So, before the last king- the Lord God gives His blessing in the person of the Cardinal, have twenty men drop it from Cathedral's belfry. In God's guidance, it will fall directly below- and forever stuck in the concrete and rocks until the worthy one pulls it out."

And so, the council of five carries out the task. It is arduous and tricky, but with the guidance of God, they completed the sword and obtained the blessings in the span of one year.

The first bell of the year rings, while Rod Reiss breaths his last. The kingdom's male population go crazy, trying to pull out the sword- hoping that one of them is the worthy one… but to no avail.

Seven years pass and still, the worthy one does not appear. The fever of the search dies down.

* * *

 **#2: The Meeting of the Woman and the Wolf**

On the rural slopes of Shiganshina, in a decent two storey house, lives a budding young woman of fifteen springs. She resides with her foster family- the Jaegers. The Jaegers are a decent bunch- the father, Dr. Grisha Jaeger is the town doctor; the mother, Mrs. Trisha Jaeger is a housewife; and the son, Eren Jaeger is someone who aspires to join the military due to his strong sense of justice.

The young woman's name is Mikasa. She's a lovely lass with night-like locks, silver eyes and milky complexion.

One day, Mrs. Jaeger call Mikasa. She says, "Go to the other side of the eastern woods… you know the young Springer family, right? The wife, Sasha is expecting. I would like you to take this basket of oil and concoction to them. I am told that one of the midwives- Ymir, is already there. So there's no need for your father to go, but he insists of doing this.

MIkasa, the obedient, pleasing girl that she is, nods. "Yes, mother."

"Now, off you go. And don't stray nor be late. The woods are dangerous. There are wolves I hear."

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself, mother."

So MIkasa sets out on her adventure to the woods.

She dons her leather boots, white shirt and skirt made of tough cloth. Over it, she wears her favourite green cloak- a 'gift' given to her by a young man she met in the woods seven years ago.

The woods are a dark place.

Trees of unlisted age tower over the shorter vegetation, providing a deep green roof over their heads and causing the temperature to drastically drop. The trunks are covered with- what her friend, Armin would call- commensal plants. Everything is either green, deep green, light green or brown. The forest floor is slippery, lined with moss and bryophytes. The surroundings are bathed with shadows, save for the occasional patches of sunlight.

A deer marches on a fallen tree, slightly curious of the girl perhaps?

Mikasa smiles unwittingly.

Slung over her arm is the very important wooden basket covered with plain brown woven cloth. To be tasked to take it across the woods gives her a giddy feeling- a feeling that doesn't show nor shine through her eyes.

Scrapings… tappings…

The girl freezes.

" _There are wolves I hear…"_

Her mother's words echo in her mind unconsciously, she grips the hilt of the dagger strapped around her thigh. It was a gift from Eren and Armin on her twelfth birthday- to protect herself.

Scrapings and more scrapings- it's as if someone's trying to avoid her gaze by running.

Mikasa looks around, her heart slightly hammering against her ribcage even with the blank expression on her face. She whips out her dagger, warily turning around, scanning the perimeter for the origin of the sound. Cold sweat blossoms out of her skin.

A newly- sharpened blade nips her throat, "Do. Not. Move." And with impossible speed, her arm is twisted on her back, dropping her dagger in the process.

The voice is owned by a man, perhaps a tad bit shorter than her because she can sense his presence rapping on her back. She feels the tingling of wolf's fur against her layers of garments.

She remains silent.

"What is a little girl like you doing here?" the man questions with a significant accent lilting at the tip of his tongue.

"Little girl? You're one to talk," she scoffs.

He presses the blade close to her throat. Her breath hitches.

"Do not change the subject. Tch… what are you doing here?"

She raises her basket, "Medicine. For the family across the woods."

"You are not part of the highway robbers?"

Mikasa almost laughs. Highway robbers? In the middle of the woods? How absurd.

"Should I be insulted?"

With that, he lets her go. Mikasa spins to look at her captor. He's a man of considerable build… about 10 cm shorter than her- raven undercut, black leather boots, brown trousers, white shirt and black vest. A pelt of rich gray and white wolf fur hang on his shoulders, wonderfully contrasting the queer pristine cravat. He raises an eyebrow at her.

She muses… he looks too clean to be a forest wanderer.

Mikasa clears her throat, "Why are **you** here?"

He paces for a while with his head bowed, as if examining the forest floor.

 _Is that a trail of braid hanging on his back?_

"You're in no place to question that."

She shrugs, "You did ask me what I am doing here… I think I am entitled to do the same."

His head snaps up, eyes narrowing.

She meets his gaze with similar intensity.

He lets out a sigh, shaking his head. "You said you're going to the other side of the forest?" _Is he trying to redirect my attention? Is he? Oh he is!_ "To the cottage? The one with a pregnant woman and a man with sheer buzz cut?"

Her lips purse… she nods.

"Last night, I think it burned… I passed by it this morning. Nothing's left but ashes."

Mikasa's heart begins beating irregularly once more. _They're… dead? Sasha and Connie and the child? Ymir too?_

"What about the occupants?"

"Never saw them."

Relief floods her senses. She feels silly knowing that the simple 'Never saw them' of the stranger brought a colossal sense of relief to her. She may not be that close to the Springer couple, nor to the stingy Ymir midwife, but ever since her parents were killed in front of her…

She sweeps off the morbid thoughts.

There should be none of that.

"Hey brat", the stranger calls out to her. "I think you should head back to your home. Now that you know the house was burned, you have no purpose in the woods.

She would like to find the three- to make sure that they indeed got away from the burning house. But if they didn't, she'll just gather their bones and ashes and give them a proper burial. The man drill his gaze into hers with greater force. This shakes Mikasa's very core, prompting her to nod mutely.

"Good", comes his short response.

He turns to go, fur pelt slightly flying with the wind. But his head slows down, making sure to languidly trail her a look- all ice and frozen blue.

Well, that is her last sight of him. She stands dazed in the woods for a while. Then after watching his back disappear into the trees, she hurries home.

There, she's welcomed by her foster mother, the Springers and Ymir.

 _There are indeed wolves in the woods…_ but she keeps this knowledge to herself.

* * *

 **#3: The Wolf and the Sword in the Cathedral**

The Ackerman was a prominent family.

It is said that the first king was an Ackerman. Some even go as far as to say that the Ackerman family is the first royal family… that the Reiss family only seized control way, way back when the people lost trust to the Ackermans due to their prowess in war.

They say that the first Reiss king took advantage if the peaceful kingdom at that time. You see, a peaceful kingdom needs no general to rule; it needs a diplomat and a businessman. The Reiss king staged a coup d'état and he successfully submitted the last Ackerman king to trial. His crime? War atrocity. He was found guilty right away. As they say, without war, heroic soldiers are nothing but mere murderers.

Well, enough of the history lesson. Let's go back to the present.

Far south, away from the prestige and luxury of the Central, Sina, stands the impenetrable Southern walls ruled and guarded by the Smiths, who are said to be descendants of the Ackermans.

Presently, the fort is headed by Erwin Smith, the last of his line. He is a man in his late twenties with dreamy blond hair and blue eyes… and a very questionable reputation (due to his lack of wife).

"Where have you been, Levi?" Erwin asks the younger man who has just entered his study.

The man called Levi has been with the Smith head for as long as his subjects can remember. He's a rather dark lad with an air of mystery and raw power. He's all black hair and frozen eyes- a long wolf clad in the pelt of the animal chosen to be his moniker.

Levi throws the lord the dirtiest glare he can muster, "Tch… you sound like a ditched housewife." Erwin looks up from the papers he's been busy browsing through. He raises an eyebrow. "Okay, okay. Geez… I was in the woods." Levi fesses up in record time.

The older man continues his pointless perusal through the documents, then after one last aimless scan, he dumps the papers to the bigger stack beside him. He laces his fingers, giving a blank look to the ravenette. "We're riding to Sina."

"When?" _Calm… Be calm…_

"I've already commanded the grooms to prepare our horses. We need to reach the Cathedral by tomorrow afternoon."

"The Cathedral?" Levi repeats breathlessly.

Seven years ago, he witnessed the installment of the sword. It took him a great deal of restraint not to try pulling it out himself. He saw countless boys, young men and men try and fail. It was too much… watching and knowing that no one will ever be able to pull it out- all because they're not worthy nor qualified.

"It is time."

Erwin's reply is short, but to Levi, it sounds like the longest statement he has ever heard.

It's time. The wait is over.

He nods wordlessly.

The very next day, exactly an hour and thirty-seven minutes past twelve, the news of a new king travelled to the ends of the kingdom, extinguishing any flame of unrest and rebellion.

The populace chanted his name as a blessing; they prayed for him- Levi Ackerman.

* * *

 **#4: The Wolf King and the Woman in the Woods**

Two years after the Ackerman king- Levi Ackerman- ascended to the throne, MIkasa grows up to become a fetching young woman. Now, aging seventeen springs, she has obtained the freedom to occasionally traverse the woods on her own.

She loves her afternoon strolls. The woods is cool- cooler than the rest of the country. It calms her… lets her escape.

See, she's nearing the age when she's ready to accept a husband, and Mrs. Jaeger spends every possible moment, coaxing her to accept suitors and such.

Mikasa sighs.

 _There are wolves I hear…_

Two years ago, she met the 'wolf' of the eastern woods. How she wants to meet him once more.

He piques her interest. He has been eating a part of her mind for the past two years. It's not pleasant… she admits. But still, here she is, feeding the said unpleasantness by engaging into a walk through the woods in her favorite green cloak and new leather boots.

A deer marches on a fallen tree slightly curious perhaps?

Mikasa smiles unconsciously.

Familiar scraping… familiar tappings…

" _There are wolves I hear…"_ those nostalgic words echo inside her head.

She harshly turns around, scanning the woods for the origin of the sound. The trees are still the same- ancient and lined with commensal plants. More scrapings. Louder tappings… scrunching of dried leaves… and still, no one appears,

Just then, from a distant gathering of bushes and younger trees, comes out a night black steed. Saddled on it is a man in wolf pelt and ermine lining- the same man she met two years ago.

Frozen blues clash with steely grays…

"You", his eyebrows furrow, trying to recollect the distant memories of a girl in green cloak and leather boots. "What are you doing here?" He leads his horse towards her.

From a closer view, she notices the simple golden circlet adorning his brow and the royal brooch shining proudly on his left breast.

Her mouth dries, "You're the king?"

 _Bless thee!_

 _Make haste…_

 _Pull thy sword_

 _For the heart of the throne beats_

 _To the strongest._

He pulls his steed to a halt- right in front of her. The man jumps off, pelt and hair fluttering in a familiar grace. He walks closer still, "And if I am? Does that warrant me some respect?"

Mikasa cringes from the prospect of bowing before the rude man. "No."

It might be the trick of the forest roof's shadow, but a smile graces his lips. He folds his hands behind his back. "Oh? Years after and still, you did not grow manners."

 _This man is a charmer… sly like a fox, cunning like a snake and bold like a wolf…_

"Says the man who didn't introduce himself", she smirks.

"Tch… there's no point of doing that now, brat-"

"Brat?!" _Years have passed (well, just two) and he still calls me 'brat'?_

"You already know my name."

* * *

 **#5: The Denouement to a Tale**

Levi Ackerman is the first Ackerman king after hundreds of years of Reiss regime.

He is the king of bravery and conquering; he is the king of a queen famed for her beauty and war contributions; he is the king of the sword blessed by the ten true kingdoms; he is the king of many things. But to his wife, he is the wolf in the woods with a mane of black locks and eyes of frozen lakes.

"I was a child then", he whispers.

She stills. This is one of her husband's rare moments of weakness and confessions. The two of them lie on their bed- her, on her back, and he, on his side, face slightly buried on the base of her neck- drowned in the haze of post-lovemaking. She lets him be- lets the words come out of his normally sealed lips.

"Perhaps no more than seven springs… when **that** man- my father- visited my mother and I. I never had any memories of him prior to that. It was the first and the last time I saw him…" his voice is hoarse, rough even. "That's what I thought. But years after- seventeen years to be exact- I saw him again. In the Hall of the Kings."

The Hall of the Kings is a special site in the palace where portraits of the past kings hung. Mikasa can only close her eyes. She can only imagine the confusion- the surprise.

"I'm a bastard, Mikasa- a bastard king."

Yes. Levi is the son of the revered king, Uri Reiss and the Ackerman woman whose name lies lost from the records, and only remembered by a few. The two were never married of course. There were just too much objections… and so Levi lived his whole life a bastard, with only Erwin and the Smiths as his (distant) relatives.

"No. You are not..."

Levi looks at her… she faces him, meeting his eyes. Frozen blues clash with steely grays. Nostalgic feelings grip her heart. Mikasa gives him a smile- the brightest smile in Levi's point of view. "You are the wolf king… the wolf king in the woods… with hair as black as the starless nights and eyes sharper than any blade… the wolf king clad in wolf pelt. You are the child whose father trusted- prided to be the strongest…" she traces the expanse of is angular jaw. "And mothers will tell your story to their sons, hoping that they too, will grow strong."

He can feel himself smiling. Levi buries his face deeper to her neck. "And what about our story?"

"Fathers will tell the story of a helpless young lady and a rude wolf to their daughters, warning them from curiosity and temptations", there is humor in her voice.

"Curiosity and temptations? Tch… you're such a brat."

"Hey! You did not let me finish!"

He props himself up with his elbow, a boyish smile adorning his face. This prompts Mikasa to grin as well. She may be passive outside, but Levi likes to think that he can make her feel a whole range of emotions. "Do finish then…"

"But then, another version will be told. It will be of a dauntless lady who made a husband out of the wolf, who saved her from a great deal of trouble plenty of times."

 _ **Owari**_

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 _And that's it... so, comments? Reactions? Am waiting~_


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